Newbie Guides: PCSX2 1.5.0 (PS2 Emulator) {Updated 03/11/2018}

Make sure you have the latest version! The team is constantly making changes, and even if it doesn’t seem important it may fix your problem!

After 13 years PCSX2 is finally out of beta! Just about all of the PS2 library runs flawlessly or with a few minor issues that can be fixed with settings in the emulator. You will need a PC no older than 2 years old to get the games running at 60 FPS. You can use an older computer, but may not be able to run graphics-heavy games like Killzone, Black, Final Fantasy X, or Devil May Cry. You may be able to run other games like 2D RPG’s such Ar Tennelico, Tales of Symphonia, as well as simpler games like Amplitude, Frequency, or Odin Sphere. Here’s what you should at least have to get the games running smoothly. The games are unplayable at 60 FPS and you experience the games in slow-motion. Instead of serious jerking around like in PC games, the emulator will just play everything in slow-motion and voices sound like they’re drunk. Not a fun way to play.

With my laptop specs below I can play most less graphically demanding games at 60 FPS. Games like Black, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2, Killzone, God of War 2, Gran Turismo 3 and 4, won’t run on these specs. I get less than 20 FPS which is unplayable.

Minimum System Requirements:

Processor: Any dual-core CPU at least 3GHz. This includes AMD and Intel

Memory: 4GB

Operating System: Windows Vista 64-bit

Mid-Range System Requirements:

Processor: Any quad-core CPU at least 3Ghz or faster (overclocked CPUs are best). 3rd generation Intel i7 CPUs are best or newer.

Graphics Card: GPU no older than 5 years. AMD RADEON HD 6xxx or up and NVIDIA GTX 5xx and up.

Memory: 6GB or more

Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit

With desktop specs below I can play any game out there with 3x native resolution and MSAA x4 and the games barely push my system. Even Killzone and Black run really well. Even games that are graphically demanding or require software mode to run push my CPU on the below rig. You need something similar to get the best results with no slow down.

Recommended (High-End) System Requirements:

Graphics Card: The latest and greatest. AMD RADEON RX 560 or up and NVIDIA GTX 1050 and up.

Memory: 8GB or more

Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit

Here’s a video of me playing Gran Turismo 4 at 4K 60FPS with my current build above!

Setting up

1. Here’s where to start. Download the installer *currently outdated* so download the latest SVN

2. Extract the folder to a location, click the exe and follow the setup wizard.

3. For the GS settings select (with whatever revision number after it there is one). This is for the newest processors with AVX2 for fastest emulation. Only select lower if you know what you’re doing or if you have a really old computer (probably pre-2010).

4. For PAD select Lilypad and hit configure. Make sure your controller is plugged in and you should see the device near the bottom.

Leave all other settings (unless you know what you’re doing) and go to the Pad 1 tab.

Some controllers may come with preset bindings, but if not just click the buttons then press the button on the controller. If your controller has force feedback click the Big Motor and Small Motor buttons to change settings and test to see if it is being recognized by Lilypad. When done click apply. *Make sure you save your bindings in case you update PCSX2 and it loses your bindings! Bindings save is in General tab* Click ok and next in the wizard

5. SPU2-X should be your sound plugin. There’s no point in fiddling with this, but make sure your Interpolation is set to 2 or 3 and not 4 under Configure.

6. Just click next on everything else. These are CD drive, Firewire, and USB plugins that really don’t need fiddling with.

7. At the end, it will ask you BIOS files. GOOGLE IT! The first 10 results will have links to the files. I can’t post them because they are copy written by Sony and illegal unless you dump your own BIOS files from your own PS2 (which is complicated and confusing for the average users). But, it’s a pirate’s life for me! Once you get your BIOS files, put them in the bios folder in the PCSX2 folder and click refresh. Select the latest USA BIOS that shows up and you’re done!

Next are games. You can use ripped games or ones in the CD drive. For ripped games go to CDVD>Iso Selector>Browse. After this click System>Boot (fast) and your game should be running! Now to configure your graphics plugin to make the game work faster, and improve the quality of the game over what you would normally see on the PS2!

Tweaking/Configuring

Graphics Plugin

1. With you game in window mode go to Config>Video>Plugin Settings

You should have Direct3D11 (Hardware) selected. There’s another plugin that might look slightly different, but overall it’s the same so don’t panic. Selecting Software mode will make the emulator run everything off your processor only which will give you incredible slowdown (unless you have a monster 4+ core CPU). Hardware uses both GPU and CPU. Null doesn’t render any video and is pretty much useless.

There’s some options here that most PC gamers will notice. Most of these settings will make you take some serious FPS hits (especially anti-aliasing and native resolution above 2x) so turn them on and if you notice any serious FPS drops turn them off.

2. Internal Resolution – Makes the game looks much sharper without needing MSAA. A huge GPU hog so start with 2x and move up until you start losing frames. Most high-end GPUs can go all the up to 8x on some games.

3. Anisotropic Filtering – A cheap way to make textures look smooth. Uses very little GPU power so always set to 16x unless you notice frame loss.

4. Software Rendering Settings – This renders with the CPU only and ignores the GPU. There are some games that only work in Software mode so check that game’s page first. Edge Anti-aliasing should always be set and enter the number of threads yo have (however many cores you have times 2. EX: an i7 4770 has 4 cores so it has 8 threads. An i7 8700 has 6 cores so 12 threads). This is important to get the max speed out of your CPU.

5. Renderer– Always use DX11 Hardware unless a game specifies otherwise. This will get the most out of your GPU.

6. Enable HW (hardware) hacks – Only enable this if you have some graphics issues in games. After you enable it hit configure and you will notice MSAA (yes this makes the games look sharper, but with some serious FPS hits). Hover over each item and you will see a list of games they work on. If you are playing that game and notice graphical anomalies check it and see if your problem goes away (it probably will). If you are having weird issues, like Destroy All Humans 2! below, then that’s what skipdraw is for.

These fullscreen issues are rare now, but if they happen set skipdraw between 1-20 and it will usually go away. Destroy All Humans 2!’s full screen issues like this go away at 5 skipdraw.

That’s pretty much it for the graphics plugin. For each game just tweak the settings and see how good you can make the game look without getting under 60 FPS.

Processor Plugin

Secondly, we’ll get to the Core settings which can make your game even faster! Go to Config>Video>Core GS Settings

If your game just doesn’t run well with basic settings try using speedhacks. Completely ignore the first three tabs! You will never need to change these. These are the PS2 EmotionEngine settings and only coders, programmers, and people who seriously know what they’re doing need to mess with these! Just focus on the last three tabs. The latest versions of PCSX2 have auto-mode enabled which is fine for most games, but some need tweaking. Try to always enable MTVU if you have a quad-core CPU or higher to get some much needed FPS.

Try adjusting steps 1-3 on EE Cyclerate first before using VU Cycle Stealing. Ignore the warnings on here, except when you’re on 3. If an FMV or cutscene is slow or stutters go back to 2 until it’s over (yes it’s a pain but what can you do?) VU Stealing can give you a bigger boost, but may cause slowdown in some games even if you are at 60 FPS. Things may run in slow-motion despite high FPS so turn down VU Stealing. Ignore all other settings here. Just fiddle with these sliders to your heart’s content.

GS Window

This is where you can set the fullscreen aspect ratio, window size, etc. You can enable Vsync and other options and is pretty straightforward. Nothing complicated here.

Game Fixes

This is all pretty self-explanatory. If you have a game listed here and you are having listed issues, check these fixes. Nuf said.

Playing the Game!

Now that all the boring stuff is out of the way it’s time to play! If you play in window mode you will notice some things at the top of the window.

The only things you have to watch are:

-Interlaced: When you press F5 to stop screen shaking this will tell you what interlace option is enabled.

-Limiter: This is very important! If you press F4 you will turn the FPS limiter off and see the full potential of your hardware and PCSX2! However, if the game runs above 60 FPS it will be like it’s in fast forward and will either freeze up or skip everything. Keep it on Normal.

-FPS: This is your frame-rate per second. This should always be around 60.

Ignore everything else!

If you play a game in hardware mode some FMVs may not play. Press F9 and enter software mode so they will. If you ever get a half-screen problem you need to be in software mode. Currently Champions of Norrath is one of those games. You need a very powerful quad-core CPU to play in software mode, preferably a CPU with 8 threads or more. 4 thread CPUs are fine, but dual-cores won’t really work unless it’s highly overclocked (above 3Ghz).

Saving

PCSX2 has a save state feature where you can save anywhere in the game and load right back up to that moment whether it’s mid-swing in a boss fight, or just before a crucial move in a strategy game. Of course, you can save like on a normal PS2 which is recommended because save states can be incompatible with the different version of PCSX2. There’s a backup feature that should be enabled in System just in case.
Have fun and I hope this guide helped!

Your question is hard to understand. Do you mean hardware (not hard drive). You probably don’t have a DirectX 11 graphics card and that is why you don’t see the option. You can still use DirectX 9, but emulation won’t be as fast or as stable.

First off, I’m not sure if you’re foreign or using a phone to reply. Second, you can’t just get a DirectX 11 card. What are your PC specs? If it is more than 2 years old you probably have to buy a whole ‘nother computer because your motherboard won’t be able to handle it. A brand new recent card is about $300-400. One of the older ones are around $150. What are your PC specs?

There’s no way. You can’t upgrade a GPU in a notebook unless it is an actual card which I’m assuming yours is an onboard chip. You will just have to stick with DirectX 9 or buy a gaming laptop. Even with the i3 you probably won’t get very good frame rates because you have a low end processor and probably graphics chip. You need at least a dual-core processor to get good frame rates, you also can’t use DirectX 11 unless you are on a 64 bit operating system. What version of Windows are you using? I’m assuming either Vista or XP. If it is XP you can’t even run DirectX 10 or 11.

Hey. I just read your article in hopes of speeding up my pcsx2 1.0.0 experience. I just downloaded this emulator to play WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010. I was hoping that my laptop could run it since it’s already 2 years old (I assumed it could since my laptop could easily handle 2010 PC games). Upon starting the game and until the menus, the FPS is an easy 60, but once a match starts, it jots down to a 30-ish FPS. Any idea how I could speed up the emu? Also, what do plugins do? Any good ones to download for my case?

Your GPU and CPU are a little underpowered for this emulator. Try switching to Direct9 (Hardware) emulation. DX11 may be pushing your GPU too hard. Make sure you are in original PS2 native resolution. Make sure all Hardware Mod Settings are off like Texture Filtering because this can strain your GPU. Try that then bump everything up little by little and experiment.

Yes, I am now running the emulator with DX9 (hardware), and PS2 native res. I also turned of Hardware mod settings. I even maxed out all Speedhacks, including EE and VU. But am still getting a 30-ish FPS. 😦

I am playing WWE SvR 2010. Do you think an earlier version of the game would require less graphics to play? Would it be like a pc game that earlier games would run faster on the emu?

Some times increasing VU cycle stealing can slow a game down. Try running in a smaller window and testing another game. If you still get 30 FPS then your hardware can’t handle it any higher. Playing an older WWE game might work, but the difference may be subtle. Also try frame skipping in Core GS settings. It may screw the graphics up some, but its worth a try.

hey man… i am facing a lag both in audio and video..i tried every best configration.
graphics quality is also nt tat gud.. and i dnt think so i hav a low end laptop..specs(i7 q740,nvidia geforce 310m(512mb),4gb ram,64 bit win7).. wat else shud i do..?..plz help….i hav upto directx10(hardware) ly…no directx11..is tat a reason for lag???…

Try installing the latest graphics drivers at NVIDIA. You have a quad-core CPU (mid-range) so that may also be the issue. Yours is only 1.73GHz per core. It may also be the game you are playing, try checking the compatibility on the PCSX2 website. Another problem could be you need to enable some speedhacks. Try turning off all extra settings like texture filtering, hardware hacks, and set the resolution to native in the GPU plugin settings.

That sounds like you unzipped the iso! Those are the files inside the iso. It doesn’t have to be .iso but any image file such as .bin which are the two most common. WinRar will recognize .iso files as a zip and people will mistakenly unzip the .iso. Open the original file you downloaded in the emulator.

Hi i have all the settings right on pcsx2 and the game FFx runs allright when i pause the game it runs smoothly no breaks in music or anything but when i unpause and start playing the FPS drops to 26 to 29 and its like im moving in slowmo and voices are in slowmo, is there a way to fix that or could it be just because im using a uniprocessor? i dont think my gcard is the problem its old but should work nvidia geforce 6100 and i only have 1 gig of RAM that could also be a big factor.

It is all of your hardware. It is really old and doesn’t even meet the minimum requirements for the emulator. You need at least a dual-core CPU and quad-core is recommended, especially the i5 or i7 series of Intel processors or AMD equivelant. You need at least a NVIDIA 2xx series or AMD HD 4xxx series or newer to get smooth results. The emulator runs best in Direct X 10/11 mode but your GPU isn’t a DX10/11 card. You could try lowering all the setting down to bare minimum, or try the speed hacks shown in the guide.

Hey messiah, first of all thanks a lot for posting this up. props for taking the time to do all this work for us noobs…
i’m having trouble running Amplitude after following all of your settings. i checked the compatibility for it and I have the proper specs..wiki says its ok, but the pcsx2 site lists it as having intro problems… i’ve also messed with the EE and VU cycles…

When I last tried it it wouldn’t go past the first loading screen. It could also be that you aren’t in DX11 which is the most compatible version and your 8400 is really old and doesn’t meet the recommended requirements for a GPU. I recommend upgrading it to at least a 2xx series card minimum. You also have an old Core 2 DUO when the devs recommend an Intel i5/i7 series because they support SSE 4.1. It is probably just a hardware issue. Try making sure the game is being run in native resolution and all extra settings are off. Also, try another game to see if you can get one to hit 60 FPS.

Are you on a laptop? You don’t have enough processing power to efficiently run PCSX2. Your CPU is 1.6 GHz dual-core which isn’t fast enough. What GPU do you have? Upon looking up your CPU it looks like it is paired with a RADEON HD graphics onboard chip which would explain your 15-25 FPS. You will have to upgrade your PC/laptop or you won’t be able to run the emulator efficiently.

although laptop is not compatible with some games with notebook older less intensive games work ok if u mess with settings mrvel vs capcom 2 works ok dmc 2 & castlevania too laggy to play ingame so far still messing with setting tho.

Hello sir, i need a help… I have a hp pavilion g6 1117tx note book with intel i3 2310,intel graphics 3000 +1 gb amd radeon 6470, 8 gb ram and win 8 pro. 64 bit. ..the proplem is when i was using win 7 homebasic 64 bit the was a option in pcsx2 of direct3d11 but in win 8 i dont have there is only 9 and 10 not 11 help….
Sory for bad eng.

First off your CPU doesn’t meet minimum requirements and won’t run fast enough. PCSX2 doesnt’ really support Windows 8 yet, also make sure you have the latest GPU drivers from AMD. It sounds like a Windows 8 issue. That’s why I tell people stick with Windows 7 for now. 8 isn’t really supported yet and a lot of people hate it.

First of all thanks for suggestion.But every thing is working perfect i completed the shadow of rome, shadow of colosses, and many such heavy games in it with frame speed abt 63-68 so i think that was not my cpu fault. And about drivers they are up to date.

I’m glad you got it running! There is no emulator available for PS3 or Xbox 360 and won’t be for probably another 10 years. Current hardware isn’t powerful enough to emulate those consoles just yet. When you emulate something you can’t just use straight up hardware similar to the console. Look at how powerful you PC has to be for the PS2 emulator. Imagine the PS3 or Xbox 360? I saw this discussion in the PCSX2 forums at one point a while back. People can’t even start the project yet until current PC hardware is 2x as powerful as what it is. It took over 10 years for the PS2 emulator to run this well and there are still issues. Don’t expect one that’s working until around 2020 or so. Sounds over exaggerated, but it’s not. In the mean time, you can check out the GameCube/Wii emulator guide I put up yesterday! https://binarymessiah.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/newbie-guides-dolphin-gamecubewii-emulator/

It’s in effect. That’s INTERNAL upscaling, the 540×680 is just the actual window size. The internal upscaling makes the graphics look more crisp and less blurry for high resolution monitors. You won’t notice a difference until you go full screen. 3x will cause a lot of slow down unless you have a really powerful computer.

Hey I downloaded FXX, came as three separate files; ISO (60MB), 7Z (unknowingly unzipped it)(3.36GB), and rar (69B). I followed instructions and opened the ISO in pcsx2 (Configure/Plugins/CDvd/Linuz ISO CDvd/configure/select ISO),(System/Boot Cdvd) and all I get is the PS2 configuration screen. The game won’t initiate.

What did I do wrong/not do at all?

Note: I can only open the 60MB ISO file in pcsx2 via the previously mentioned steps

Is it a .bin and .cue file? You also don’t open the ISO through the plugin menu. Just go to CD/DVD>ISO Selector>Browse. Then choose fast boot. If that doesn’t work try downloading another source of the game.

Did you even read the system requirements? Your computer is way under powered. You need a MINIMUM of 4GB or RAM and a dual core CPU at 3GHz, you have a single core CPU. You probably have a really weak graphic card as well.

I know this is going to sound really stupid, and I guess its, because in this case I am. I am trying to figure out how O can get the emulator, and run the games on it in the first place. I downloaded it, and it wouldn’t even recognize anything the bios folder. I would just like someone to spread retard for me, and just tell me how I am suppose play that game that is on my screen, but not being recognized by pcxs2. Sorry for being dumb.

All I can say is follow the guide word for word and you should be fine. That’s why it’s called a Newbie Guide. I broke everything down in Layman’s terms so even the most technologically inept person can run the games.

Did you try right clicking and click “Extract Here”? The file could be corrupt as well. Try that or redownloading it. Also, try unzipping another 7z file, if it is successful than the game you downloaded is probably a bad archive.

You can’t run emulators on tablets unless the emulator has an app. Even if you could there’s no way you’re getting a PS2 emulator to run on a tablet. The only tablet in existence that can run the emulator is probably the Razer Edge.

You have a 7450M which is an amazing GPU, I hope that isn’t a typo lol. I think it’s your CPU. It’s a low end dual core CPU and is bottle necking your GPU. That 7450M should be able to run anything, but your CPU is stopping it from doing so. I’m personally upgrading to an Alienware M18x-R3 in a few months with dual 680M’s an Intel i7 3940QM (3.7Ghz) and 12GB of RAM at 1600Mhz. Also a Raid 0 HDD and a 32GB mSATA caching drive.

You can’t really run anything at 60FPS with just a 1.9GHz CPU, you need at least a 3GHz to get the emulator up off the ground.

Go with Alienware. The rig I mentioned is about $3,500 but they have more affordable options and smaller laptops with single GPUs. Alienware is probably the best laptop brand you can get thanks to their dedication to gaming. They test each and every laptop (they aren’t mass produced) and if a piece of hardware fails they replace it and test it all over again. Takes about 2 weeks to ship because they are custom made. They are also made out of anodized aluminum which helps push heat away from the components and has desktop quality cooling. You also get a laser etched nameplate on the bottom of the laptop. I currently own an M17x-R2 and they are just fantastic. Had this for almost 3 years and not a single thing has gone wrong with it hardware wise. Super sturdy and well worth the money.

Naa.. Its not a typo :-)..
But the CPU bottle necking my Gpu is so true…
MW3 runs smooth on Medium settings but a 3 year old game ( an a popular FPS, I forgot the name) can’t even run at the lowest settings – – – SLIDESHOW
.. MW3 is kinda Gpu intensive coz AI is fucking dumb
(not much use of CPU)
but the on the other FPS, AI is pretty good (Cpu+Gpu intensive game)..

An your Alienate suggestion is waaay out of my league IMHO.. Max 850 $ for my next laptop…

It seems that PCSX2 is CPU intensive so I just want to go with an Intel processor for my next laptop..

I was kinda OK with the FPS of the games on PCSX2 on my laptop until my lil bro ran the same games on my Pc.. Its super smooth on my Pc.. Now I dn’t want to play it on my laptop anymore coz of the low FPS..

What are your system specs? Are you playing on a laptop? There’s a possibility if you have an Intel i series CPU that has turbo boost, it could be underclocked. Restart your computer to fix this. Also, there could be a certain graphics heavy game you started playing that your computer can’t run. Start by turning off all extra graphics options.

Strange, restart your computer, try turning off all graphics options. Also, make sure VU cycle stealing is set to 0 when you start a new game. I see you have a laptop seeing you have an M series card. Try restarting because I think your CPU is underclocking. This can happen when you unplug the laptop and when you plug it back in it won’t register that it’s plugged in. Happens to mine some times.

Well first off you don’t have enough RAM. You need at least 8, 2GB isn’t even enough to run just Windows efficiently. Secondly, your CPU is only 2.5Ghz which also might be an issue, and what GPU do you have? Does it meet minimum requirements? Try decreasing VU cycle stealing if you have, also try increasing it.

First off, thanks for helping in advance if you are still responding to questions.

I’ve been trying to get the emulator to run pretty much just one game, Dragon Quest VIII. As it is the only game that I can’t play on an HDTV (so blurry you can’t even read the text). I followed all the guides I read online, used the hacks to fix the text and got it running. Its ‘playable’ and runs. But pretty much in any cutscene or town with large amounts of NPCs and resources, the game slows to a crawl. But the framerate stays at a high 50-60 FPS.

I think it is either my RAM or CPU. I am in the process of getting 4 GB more of RAM, but I wanted to know if that will even fix the problem. Or am I doomed from the start because my CPU is only 2.4 GHz. I really don’t want to risk overclocking it just to play a $10 game I’ve played 3 times before, even if it is my favorite game. And I’m really only wanting to do this if I can play the game at 2x Native to make the game look better.

Having more RAM is always good, you should have at least 8GB to efficiently run Windows. It sounds like it might be your CPU because it is 2.4Ghz. Even though it’s four cores, 2.4Ghz is kind of a low-end/mid-range CPU. Have you tried lowering all settings to default and increase VU cycle stealing? Did you download the latest SVN as well?

As you suggested, I downloaded the latest version on the SVN page. As well as trying the game in native resolution and with all the default options and VU Cycle stealing (both at level 2 which was recommended by the PCSX2 Wiki and level 3 max). Neither really seemed to change the performance any, I saw the exact same slowdowns in the opening cutscenes as I did with all the hacks/2x Native settings I had on.

It’s the strangest thing. Watching my resource monitor, my RAM doesn’t even seem to be utilized by PCSX2 at all, staying at a consistent 1.25 GB usage (the same it normally runs with just Windows 7 running stand alone). However, the CPU keeps fluctuating randomly. During cutscenes, when the game actually has lag spikes and the framerate drops, resource monitor says it is only using about 25-30% of the CPU for PCSX2. But when I’m in a battle or exploring a town, the game stays at a consistent 60 FPS and doesn’t lag. While Resource Monitor says its using a good 65-70% of the CPU at those times. This is making me think there’s yet another setting in PCSX2 that needs to be checked or turned on to fix an issue with the games cutscenes and it may not even be my CPU/RAM.

As well, I also tried loading up the PS2 remake of Dragon Quest V in PCSX2. And it ran with absolutely no lag at all. In fact, it started speeding up real bad and I had to turn off all speedhacks and settings except 2x Native Resolution. Obviously the game is a lot less resource heavy than Dragon Quest VIII, but it still makes me think that it might be something more to do with cutscenes or something else in Dragon Quest VIII. Especially since people are also saying certain cutscenes in DQVIII bug out no matter how good your computer specs (the flashback scenes).

I am about to buy an Alienware m14x R2 laptop this summer and was wondering how it will handle it, I’m a n00b to PC gaming and don’t know much and you seem to know a lot about it. But anyway my laptop specs are going to be a 3rd gen. i7 3740qm quad core processor at 2.7GHz, 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 650m graphics card and 12GB of RAM. How will my laptop handle PCSX2 1.0.0?

Welcome to the Alienware family! I’m actually going to open my M17x-R2 up and upgrade my CPU (Intel i7 920XM), wireless card (Killer N 1202), and get a 680M. Here’s the thing, the 650M actually isn’t all that powerful, even less powerful is the 660M. The 650 and 660 are just the 570 and 580 rebranded. That’s why everyone has the 680 and 690 (The mobility version of the 690 isn’t available yet). The problem is, the 680M isn’t available in the M14x, just the M17 and M18. That CPU is fine because it’s actually 3.7GHz. The 2.7 is underclocked to save battery life and when applications (like games) need more speed it can push the CPU to 3.7Ghz. However, you should be able to run PCSX2 just fine at maximum settings.

That is so great to hear! Thank you! I was so worried that I wouldn’t be able to run PCSX2 and Dolphin (2 of my main reasons for buying the laptop in the first place) at full speed with good graphics, etc. Thank you for confirming this for me, now I’m even more excited to get the laptop now!

It’s not as easy as just popping it in like memory or a hard drive. You have to completely disassemble the laptop, you have to find out what GPU type your chipset is (the larger Alienware laptops use MXM 3.0 b) and how many watts your laptop can handle. The M17x-R2 can handle the 680M because it’s an MXM 3.0 b card. Your best bet is to at least spend the extra $80 and get the 2GB 650M. I believe that’s all the M14x can handle though because it is a smaller form factor and can’t disperse the heat like the larger laptops. If I wanted to I could also stick a second 680M in mine, but they are $700 as it is.

Ah, okay. I will just stick with the regular setup I mentioned earlier. Ah! I’m so excited I’ll be able to play my favorite PS2 games like Kingdom Hearts 2 and DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 3! Reliving the good-ole days. Haha thank you very much!

I see you talking a lot about the 650, 660, 680 and 690 series. What about the 670 series? I looked up the specs and it seems to be middle of the road between the first 2 and last 2. I am thinking about putting this emulator on my Qosmio x875-q7190. 3rd gen i7 2.4 GHz up to 3.4 GHz, 12 gigs DDR3 ram, graphics 3 gigs GDDR5 ram. I don’t think it will have any problem running the emulator except for maybe the fact it is running windows 8. I am not totally new to the emulator scene, running many handheld emulators and epsxe on my vaio right now.

Just loaded up the emu. Thanks for this tutorial. It seems to work great on Windows 8. I have only tried booting up Star Ocean 3 though. I did have issues loading up from a disk though. Found out that I had to have PlugIn checked for the ISO.

So I decided that I was going to go a different way with my laptop purchase, specifically the type. I decided to (possibly) go with an ASUS G75VW, it will have have a Intel core i7 3630QM 2.4GHz/3.4GHz, nvidia geforce GTX 660m and 12GB of ram. Should I go in this direction or stick with the alienware?

Stick with Alienware unless money is an issue. Here’s why, instead of defending it like a fan boy there’s a reason to stick with Alienware. They have patented technology and special ways of cooling the laptop. Alienware also custom builds every laptop by order. ASUS and other brands are mass produced stuff built in a factory. Alienware tests each and every laptop, make sure all the hardware works, and if something goes wrong they replace it before sending it to you. Most people don’t know this and claim that Alienware is mass produced, it isn’t. It high quality stuff you’re paying for, plus the awesome looking design and AlienFx, you won’t get that stuff anywhere else. I have had my Alienware for 3 years and not a single thing has gone wrong with it. It’s well worth the money.

Hello again this will be my final opinion based question I ask of you. I have been messing around and looking for some good gaming laptops, and I came across the Sager NP9150/Clevo P150EM. The three most important specs of this monster are an 3rd Gen. Intel Core i7-3630QM quad-core processor at 3.4GHz (turbo boost), NVIDIA GTX 675MX with 4GB of video ram and 12GB of RAM. I feel that this will be able to handle any PCSX2 game thrown at it (expecting that they’ve been been tested to work 100% with PCSX2). What are your thoughts about this gaming machine and how do you think it’ll handle PCSX2, Dolphin and most other games like Battlefield 3 (on high settings)?

Okay, did you NOT read the text in HUGE BOLD RED PRINT? You do NOT meet minimum requirements to run the emulator! Intel HD graphics CAN NOT RUN RECENT GAMES INCLUDING EMULATORS. READ the other comments and the post.

So I’m gonna get the new Alienware 17 and would like to know if it’ll run or not.
I7-4700MQ
2.4 Ghz to 3.4 Ghz Quad Core
GTX 770M
I would just like to double confirm if it runs or not as I’m pretty paranoid with stuffs. Thanks.

And yet, I can’t get Shadow of Rome to work. The game slows down when you take control of Octavanius, and then when it reverts back to Agrippa, in the Germanic forest, it runs super slow. If I revert to software mode, it runs fast, but can see anything as the entire screen turns to fog/white out.

If I run in hardware, it runs super slow, barely playable.

What am I doing wrong? Is there some magic formula for the plugins to be configured? Is anyone aware, of any loopholes or workarounds for this issue at all? If anyone can answer, I will be eternally grateful!

hello
sending this regading that i have a alienware 18x and the system is nearly the most uptodate laptop with 680 gtx graphics card and i7 3740qm cpu 2.7ghz
but for some reason what ever game i play it doesnt go above 30 fps doesnt matter what i do in the options ive been to alot of configure sites but no help if you have anything that can help me please do

Is the laptop plugged in? When Alienware laptops are unplugged they underclock the CPU and GPU and some models switch to the onboard graphics chip. Make sure your power plan settings are set to Gaming or Performance mode as well. If that doesn’t work, it sounds like something just isn’t configured right, or it could be the game. Check with the compatibility list on the PCSX2 website, not all games run well. Also, make sure you have the latest SVN.

The part that I am struggling with is under Components Selectors > Plugins > GS. The forumn post states I need to run it with SSE4.1 as you recommended in your post but every time I try it fails to load because my hardware or software/drivers are not supported. My computer is really not that old and I feel it should be capable. I feel like this might be the most important step to running Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance . It keeps freezing at the same movie part before even starting the game.

I’m not sure how to look up this type of capability information so I will post my specs and see if you can help me out or lead me in the right direction.

There was also a lot of other text from the forum post that I really didn’t understand. If it’s possible to fix my SSE4.1 issue or get past that, could it be related to any of this stuff from the forum post?

Your system should be more than capable. It sounds like a driver issue or you don’t have the latest SVN for PCSX2. As for the stuff you posted, it’s nothing to worry about. The 4GB patch may be needed, you will have to Google it. Honesty, just download the PC version of Baldur’s Gate and save yourself the headache.

Hmm that’s strange. I updated my video card driver, but perhaps just a compatibility issue? Or is there another type of driver I should look into to check for updates with? I’ll look around for a more current SVN but I downloaded it from the website so I don’t know why that wouldn’t work. Yeah the PC version looks pretty cool, but I guess I just have a lot of nostalgia for the Playstation 2 games and would just love to run through them again. Thanks for you help

It wouldn’t be another driver that could be causing issues. It could be just problems with your hardware setup communicating with the emulator. Emulators are very finnicky and picky, especially the PS2 emulator. You have to remember it’s been in the making since 2002, and barely came out of beta after 10 years. It will probably be another 5 before it’s 100% perfect. It could also be just the games you are playing, not all run right or require special setups.

Hey i’d like to ask about a sudden problem it occurred to me. For about 2 weeks i was playing the ps2 games on my pcsx2 1.1.0, mostly the shin megami tensei series, and suddenly one day the games were running slow, about 19, 20 or so fps, it couldn’t even make the opening run smooth like before. Before i was running at about 60, 50 fps. I didn’t do anything at the laptop nor to the emulator, it just happened. I thought it was a problem with the vsync but i disabled it in the nivida settings and the GSwindow in the emulator and still the same. Idk is there another vsync somewhere that i’m not aware about?
Anyway these are my specs:
Windows 7 Ultimate
Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2310M CPU 2.10GHz
RAM 6.00 GB
64 bit operating system

First off, that’s not a complete spec list. What GPU do you have? Is it onboard or a dedicated card? That CPU isn’t really enough to run the emulator at full frame rate. Second, try restarting your computer. It sounds like your CPU got underclocked and turbo boost isn’t kicking in. That happens to my laptop a lot. It’ll get stuck at 2.53GHz instead of 3 and the games run at half their usual speed. Try updating your graphics card driver as well.

Now that u mentioned the updating of the graphic card, i did get an error in trying to update it, and restarting it didn’t work, i tried it numerous times. I thought it could be the heat but it was hot during these weeks as well and no prob. But anyway leaving specs aside, those games i played were running ok, they were playable but now they run worse than on my old pc. So anyway the idea is that i need to update my graphic card. I hope this’ll fix it

When i checked the display adapters i had these 2: intel(R) HD graphics family and Nivida Gefore GT 525M. I’m not sure exactly if its wright or wrong that there are two. And i don’t know about the onboard chip, i’m not really sure what it is, this isn’t my laptop yet but i know there weren’t made any hardware updates or something.

Yep, there’s your problem. The emulator is somehow running off the onboard chip (the Intel HD) and not your dedicated GPU (the 525M). Somehow it did a switcheroo on you and that resulted in the slowdown. You need to whitelist the emulator exe in the Nvidia control panel so it uses the GPU and not the chip. Watch this YouTube video to learn how to do that. You might also want to do this with every game you play. After you do that download this driver from Nvidia. It’s for YOUR GPU so it should install just fine. That’s the latest driver for it too.

I had this issue with my girlfriend’s Alienware M11x where every game would run off the Intel HD chip and not the 540M. You just have to whitelist it.

Well i whitelisted it, i installed the update, and its the same. I whitelisted the emulator exe, i guess i don’t have to whitelist the game right?
Well i think reinstalling the windows is the other option lol

That’s strange. You can’t whitelist the game because you can only whitelist exes. I don’t think reinstalling Windows would do anything but you can give it a try. reinstalling Windows without reformatting usually causes stability issues, it’s not recommended. Do this. In the main emulator window (like in the guide) is the GS or EE at 100%? Look at the top of the window where you see —% when playing. If they are at 100% that means your computer can’t handle it, if they aren’t (or at low numbers) it’s something else.

Then my original theory was right. Your CPU was being underclocked and somehow the controller froze up. Unplugging it discharges the CMOS chip (which controls the CPU clock speeds) and thus restored the speed.

So I was wondering about PCSX2 on the Laptop. Is it okay if a Quad Core laptop goes to 80-85 degrees? I’m asking because I’m really paranoid with the temps for this emulator and it’s CPU/GPU intensive games.

It depends on the laptop. Most have crappy cooling and aren’t designed to take a lot of heat so after awhile your keys start popping off and the card melts. Macbooks are notorious for that. Just keep an eye on the the behavior of the computer.

I have an Alienware M17x-R2, they are designed for gaming and have some of the best laptop cooling out there. It gets a bit warm, but not more than that. I have an i5 540M @ 3Ghz and an ATI HD 5870. I can play games all day and not have an issue. Laptops were never designed for gaming, that’s why there’s specialty laptops designed for it. Alienware uses dual copper heatsinks and can even run dual graphics cards such as the latest 770Ms and overclocked CPUs and run pretty cool.

I also didn’t answer your first question. Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius? 85 degrees Fahrenheit is normal temp but if that’s Celsius…then there’s a serious problem because that’s like 185 degrees. A safe temperature when playing is around 140 degrees.

You’re lucky if you can play Minecraft on that thing. Take a look at these benchmarks. It’s at the very bottom. http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+A4-3420+APU Those APUs aren’t designed for gaming. You need a dedicated graphics card like in an Alienware gaming laptop. You also don’t have sufficient RAM.

So I’m getting a steady 60fps reading from Afterburners on screen display but while playing tony hawk 3 the framerates still seem to drop (even while the readng is steady). Is this just to be expectec or anything to do to fix it?

I’m sorry to bother you… My pcsx2 crashes hte moment I press boot when I set the gs in directx, either 9 or 11, but it runs pretty good in open gl (hardware)… You mentioned above that you can only run it in directx 11 if you have a 64-bit operating system. So the fact that I have Windows 7 32-bit Ultimate means that I can’t run pcsx2 in directx mode or am I doing something else wrong? Because it played well until a while ago (that is to say, about 4-5 weeks). I also have an intel i3 3.07 GHz, nVidia GeForce GTS 450 and 2gb ram… Thanks in advance!

Your problem is your GPU. The GTS series isn’t designed for gaming, it’s WAY under powered. Are you using a laptop? DirectX 11 is supported on your GPU but you don’t have a 64-bit OS so that may be your issue. Try updating your latest GPU drivers and see if that works.

Hey , I’ve set everything up like the guide but the game freezes at a certain point after it begins . The game is Ratchet & Clank Going Commando . I see the intro , I begin the game , but when I’m about to begin playing the game , it freezes for no reason . Do you know the source of the problem , or even the cause ?

Emulator runs fine, the issue is that when this game boots im only seeing half a screen. In software mode (both DX9 and DX11) i can see the screen and thanks to laptop specs i dont think there will be performance issues, but the game then boots to black and stays there after the initial splash screen.

I’ve been told these games dont emulate properly, but you seem like a bit of a guru so thought i’d ask here.

Just because you think your laptop is above specs doesn’t mean they are. What are your laptop specs? If you have an APU you’re going to have problems, same if you have Windows 8. If you have an onboard GPU you will have issues and PCSX2 does not work properly with onboard GPUs, you need a discrete GPU. Baldur’s Gate 2 is one of the few PS2 games that still don’t work properly. There’s not much you can do about it. For software mode you need a high-end quad-core CPU at least 3.9Ghz or you’re going to get massive slow-down.

it’s weir because i have this error since i have install pcsx2…
i have uninstall it from W8 partition and re-install it to W7 partition to be sure :
i do not have this errors now
so i think that this version of PCSX2 do not work properly with W8
anyway thank you

I’m commenting to let everyone know that this is a professional site and I want to keep it that way. I have received a few comments from people who are unprofessional, immature, and down right obnoxious. Every comment is filtered by me and can’t be posted unless I approve them for this reason.

I don’t mind helping people out but I have a full time job, bills to pay, and things I want to do on my little time off besides trouble shooting computer problems all day. I don’t mind helping people but 99% of comments and questions can be solved by thoroughly reading the guide and doing some self troubleshooting.

I don’t care if you don’t like Alienware because they are overpriced and you have a lesser quality generic laptop that will burn out in a year. That’s your thing, but please leave the comments mature and appropriate. I appologize ahead of time if my help is wrong or if there are different ways, please share them but do so in a less obnoxious way that makes you sound like a belligerent 12 year old know it all.

You can’t disable framelimiting and make the game smooth. Even the official guide on the forum says disabling framelimiting was only implemented so you can really benchmark the game on your rig. Try the various speed up fixes found near the bottom of the guide. Not every game will run smooth or at all. Even though the emulator is out of beta it still has a way to go before becoming nearly perfect like ePSXE or the older console emulators. The PS2 is a very complicated system to emulate. Thus taking over 10 years just to make 90% of the games playable.

If you can spare a minute I’d love to get your input as to whether my laptop’s spec is good enough for GT4. And if so, how you would configure the emulator. My spec is:
Intel i7 quad core 2.4GHz
8GB RAM
NVIDIA Geforce GT 650, 2GB
Windows 7 – 64
PCSX2 version 1.0.0

I have problems getting up to more than 35-45 FPS when racing, resulting in a slow-down.

GT4 isn’t emulated properly yet. The GT 650 isn’t exactly a high performance gaming card, you want cards from the GTX family. Your CPU is a bit slow as well because at least 3.0Ghz is recommended (unless your CPU has Turbo Boost). Just go into the guide and try some of the speed hacks.

I have 40 – 50 FPS. I think i only need the correct Settings. Because the older Version of the Emulator worked with Final Fantasy X perfect. Now i would Play Crash Bandicoot The Wrath of Cortex, and its slow + Sound are slow.

I have the current version pcsx2 1.2.1 (r5875) (stable version) I Have the same problem with budokai tenkaichi 3, God hand. im on a laptop and I seem to run the games between 30 fps all the way to 80fps. when im about to fight in DBZ the frames suddenly drops to 30 to up to 50fps stays there.

My PCSX2 1.2.1 emulator is working and my fps is 55-65 but it isn’t displaying the game I’ve played around with the video setting but can’t get it to work I’m using an asus notebook could it be my graphics card any suggestions?

I have an HP Pavilion g series laptop with AMD E-450 APU with Radeon HD graphics and 1.65 GHz with 4gb of RAM and OS of windows 7. I know 3 GHz is the recommended processor but I have what I have. I’m trying to play FFX and can get it to play at 43-30 FPS range after tweaking all settings. My only question is, Can I get it to go any faster or am I lucky to be in the FPS range that I am in?

You HAVE to have 60 FPS steady otherwise the game won’t play right. It’s not like a PC where you can play at 40 FPS and just have it a bit choppy. It doesn’t work like that. If you don’t have a steady 60 FPS then you’re going to have a terrible experience. Your laptop, and most of those AMD APU laptops, are NOT even close to being able to play high end games (that includes heavy duty emulators like PCSX2). Your CPU is way underpowered and the GPU isn’t designed for gaming.

So to answer your questions, no, you aren’t “lucky” to be in that range because it’s not even playable.

So, I’ve been trying for a few hours now to get the pcsx 1.2.1 working. I am able to open it, but every time I try to load a game, it crashes. I’ve tried everything from help videos to your guide, but I still can’t seem to fix whatever the problem is. I admit I’m not an overly techy person, but I can follow instructions. Anyway, here are the specs

Your laptop doesn’t meet minimum requirements. Sony Vaios are NOT gaming laptops. You will never ever get PCSX2 or most modern games to run properly on it. The GeForce 310M is a very low end laptop GPU. Your CPU is also way underpowered.

I´m getting wierd texures in Rachet and clank 3 wich I can make go away if I use the Direct3D11 (software) instead of the Direct3D11 (harware). But if I use the software my fps drops down to around 30.

I would like to play “here come the pain” in my laptop
Below is my Laptop Config:
Hp, Quad core, 4gb RAM, A8 Processor, 500HD, windows 8.1
I installed pcsx2 1.2.1, the concern is the game is too slow the FPS is not steady, it fluctuates from 56-62.
Please advice the the exact emulator settings, it would be very helpful for me.

had GTA san andreas running, but every .iso file since and now GTA included, will not boot, saying ‘a file could not be created.’ I have a few .iso files, but i am lost now since i was playing GTA, it was fine.

hey I have champions of norrath, i fixed the half screen thing. however when i play the game and i go to the character inventory and skills etc… it won’t let me scroll the tabs, it will bring me back the the weapons tab if i select any other tab. please help. im using a 360 wireless controller

Me and my friend did a hard search for this and no answer so any thing you answer for me I’ll let him know when I see him next so please forgive me for sounding retarded.

How come Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 closes as soon as you enter an event/race to do anything? I have the v1.00. The older emulator we got actually to a race but had strange stripes across the screen then eventually it crashed like the new one.

Is this game not compatible as I saw a video of some dude playing it on his PCSX version with little to no slow downs at all.

I have a 4 quad CPU computer with Windows 7 X64 and Direct X10 with onboard Radeon 3200 intergrated graphics.

First off, make sure you download the latest version, but that won’t matter anyway. PCSX2 DOES NOT support onboard graphics as they are not designed for gaming. I’m guessing you’re using a laptop. I recommend getting a gaming laptop or go to a gaming desktop. The PCSX2 does not provide support for anyone with integrated graphics and neither do I. I clearly posted the minimum system requirements on the post. I obviously need to update it.

Hi! I just wanna know if this’ll run right on an Optimus enabled laptop. I have an Alienware 15, GTX 970m, 4210 HQ @ 3.5 GHz. I’m asking cuz the games (DMC, DMC 2) give really low frames (17-23) even though I run PCSX2 with “high performance graphics” enabled. I’m not able to change my graphics adapter settings in PCSX config menu either (stuck at integrated). Or am I doing something wrong?

Make sure you add the PCSX2.exe to the Nvidia Control Panel and run that as high performance. If that doesn’t help it’s because you have a lower end CPU that is only dual-core and the GTX 970m isn’t the same power as the GTX 970 desktop version so you aren’t going to get amazing FPS. In fact, your CPU is probably bottlenecking your GPU not allowing it perform at maximum performance. The 970 needs a quad-core or better to be fully utilized.

The best guide i have seen, well done on great Job answering all the questions, but people give the guy a break lol check out utube there are plenty of guides watch as many as you can, sometimes they contridict each other, but nothing beats trying it out for yourselves, experiment and see what runs best thats the best way to learn after all, its not as complicated as it seems at first glance.
So read the guide, experment and see what best works for you.

I know your probably tired of these kinds of posts and i apologize in advance. I am probably gonna get an alienware alpha in the next couple weeks and was wondering if pcsx2 emulator would work on it as it should. the specs are.

and I was planning on upgrading the RAM soon after I get it. im not sure about the gpu since its custom made for the alpha. so i just want your opinion on it. again sorry if your tired of these posts. i did read the requirements btw just more confusing to me on some parts mainly the gpu.

You seem to have missed that it just says “Geforce GTX 2GB” That’s a generic desciption. The Alpha comes with laptop hardware and it uses the Geforce GTX 860M which isn’t the best GPU out there, even for laptop gaming. The i3 is a low end dual-core CPU which won’t get you off the ground for PCSX2. You’re probably going to get super LOW FPS or it just won’t run at all. The Alpha’s are designed more for indie games and what not. You won’t be playing DOOM or The Witcher 3 at max settings.

Your system can’t run that game very well. Your specs aren’t high enough. Try adjusting the various engine settings as seen in the guide to speed up FPS. If non of those work then your system isn’t powerful enough for that game. The GTX 840M isn’t all that powerful as it’s not a gaming card but a multimedia card. It’s equivalent to a GTX 620 desktop GPU which is VERY weak and old.

Because the video is just a movie file and not real time. I need more specific info on your specs. Intel i7 doesn’t tell me anything. There’s dozens of i7 CPUs out there. GT60M isn’t a real GPU. You’re missing a number. Also make sure it’s either GT or GTX as the GT series aren’t for gaming but for multimedia.

In Wild Arms 5 towns run just fine and also FMVs during cutscenes etc.
But in the field (world map), I have major slowdowns (5-10 FPS) and also in battles about the same.
However in towns/menus I get around 45-60 FPS with limiter enabled. 80-85 without limiter.

I’ve tried presets and speedhacks but the problem still persists. Could this be the emulator not fully supporting the game. I’ve seen other ps2 games run on this with same or better graphics run more smoothly. But this game persists to make me suffer on FPS.

The is fully supported, make sure that PCSX2 isn’t running off of the onboard graphics processor (the Radeon R7) and it is off the 750ti. The 750ti is fairly old and isn’t supported for most games anymore. That could be another issue. Make sure you’re running the emulator in DX11. Make sure you have the latest graphics drivers as well.

The fact that you’re getting under 45FPS AT ALL is a major problem. PCSX2 MUST run at 60FPS at all times or the game won’t play right.

Hi. Been running pcsx2 on my laptop for about a week, the games have been running smoothly until after I updated my nvidia driver, after which, I started experiencing slow down on all of the games I’ve tested so far.

I saw Devil May Cry was mentioned above, and i was curious if anyone had the same problems I’m having. I’ve acquired the game from 2 separate sources and both of them have the same glitches. While playing, my HUD does not display. All i see is Dante and the world around him. SO I can play, I just can’t see how much health I have left. Same with the pause screen, it just pauses the game but doesn’t show me anything, and also when I die. The screen changes a little but I can’t see my options to select. Anyone solutions out there? Thanks in advance

Trying to play RE Outbreak using the latest svn. The problem is that even on native resolution, the window displays 59-60 fps, but in-game it’s feels slow motion. It’s not too slow, but definitely does not look and feel 60 fps. I used the fps delimiter just to check my PC’s power and the game ran at a 100 something FPS. So it’s definitely not a PC limitation, I believe. I pretty much tried everything. I have seen some videos on YT using the emulator with this game, and their game is running smooth. So Idk, what else I should change now to make it actually look and feel 60 fps?

I’m gonna ask a really dumb question here so bear with me. I have almost his EXACT setup except I have an HP Omen 1TB HDD 7200 rpm SATA + 128 SSD and my graphics card is NVIDIA GTX 1050 2GB GDDR5. According to your system requirements, I hit everything for high end systems but for whatever reason, my games are really glitchy. You had the best configuration that I’ve found yet but some games (Like The Sims 2: Bustin Out or Final Fantasy: Dirge of Cerberus) won’t even get past initial start up. I’m able to play games like Yugioh: Duelist of the Roses with minor glitches and Shining Force Neo in Native/2x Native but anything above and it starts to lag even tho it’s still going 60fps… I’m confused as to why I can’t get most games to start, definitely can’t hike up the res, and have them play smoothly. I followed your guide verbatim and like I said it helped, but even tweaking it isn’t helping and speed hacks do virtually nothing. Did I overhype how powerful my laptop is in my head and/or any suggestion on my next course of action? Thanks in advance. Awesome newbie guide btw.

What CPU do you have? The 1050 is the lowest end of the 10 series and you don’t get to utilize a lot of the enhancement features. Are you using DirectX 11? Try lowering the EE cyclate a little. Post a screenshot of the top of the window while the game is running.

Extremely late, I’ve literally been so busy I haven’t touched a PC or console game in over a month. I have a 2.8GHz with 3.8 TurboBoost and a 6mb cache. I’m posting screenshots of my PCSX2 screen in a minute.

Nvm, guess I’m not because it won’t let me attach photo here for whatever reason. I’m trying to run The Sim’s: Bustin Out and it is running at 60 frames, D3D11 (yes I use DirectX11 to answer your previous question), have completely lowered and even turned off all speedhacks at one point that seemed to help, have an EE at top screen floating around 65-75% and GS not reaching higher than 5%. VU is a consistent 0%. Now it runs FFX and Dirge of Cerberus pretty decently with minimal lag and I haven’t even attempted God of War yet. I can also run The Evil Within and FFXV on Steam with no issues and I know it’s a whole different avenue than APCSX2, but I meet system requirements to run both of those in FHD and they look and run great so idk why PS2 games are giving me such an issue.

Yes, you can run them, but not at highest settings. The 1050 is a very low end gaming card designed for light gaming mainly. For the issue with Bustin’ Out it could be the version of PCSX2 you’re using. Try updating to the latest version. According to the wiki it should run just fine with zero issues.

Sorry in advance but i need some advice.PSCX2 1.50 is the newest version it works but i have sudden lags and slow downs.I could use someones hints on how to make the emulator run smootly.
Thanks in advance and i really hope someone has the same specs as i do.
My pc specs are
CPU: AMD FX 6300 Overclocked to 4.4 ghz
GPU: AMD R9 280X 4GB VRAM
RAM: 16GB DDR3 1600mhz